The question of category: A reconceptualization through Luhmann's systems theory

IF 1.8 4区管理学 Q3 MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE Pub Date : 2023-10-03 DOI:10.1002/sres.2979

Konstantin Skoblik

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Abstract

Abstract Although the problem of category has traditionally been addressed by various scholars since Aristotle, Luhmann's epistemology has kept this matter in a suspended state, occasionally prioritizing some concepts (presumably categories) over others. However, for the sake of a consistent analysis of the semantics and societal self‐descriptions, it is better to have categorical constructs as focal points of systemic analysis manifested. Drawing upon resources of Luhmann's systems theory and Durkheim's sociology, this paper aims at elaborating the concept of category as an essential element of autopoietic analytical optics. It is shown that categories possess the following attributes: the highest degree of generalization and condensation, necessity, universality despite semantic variability, historicity and evolutionary characteristics. Amid a range of distinctions, system/environment, dis‐/similar, un‐/equal and distinction itself are considered to be categorical. These serve to carry out a primordial marking of ‘unmarked space’ and prepare the essential foundation for connectivity and other distinction generation.

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范畴问题:通过鲁曼的系统理论重新概念化

虽然自亚里士多德以来，范畴问题一直由不同的学者讨论，但鲁曼的认识论使这个问题处于一种暂停状态，偶尔优先考虑某些概念(可能是范畴)而不是其他概念。然而，为了对语义和社会自我描述进行一致的分析，最好将分类结构作为系统分析的重点。本文借鉴卢曼的系统理论和迪尔凯姆的社会学理论，旨在阐述范畴概念作为自创生分析光学的一个基本要素。研究表明，范畴具有高度的概括和凝聚性、必然性、语义变异性的普遍性、历史性和进化性等特征。在一系列的区别中，系统/环境、不同/相似、不同/平等和区别本身被认为是绝对的。这些服务于对“未标记空间”进行原始标记，并为连接性和其他区分的产生奠定必要的基础。

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来源期刊

SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE Multiple-

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

14.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Systems Research and Behavioral Science publishes original articles on new theories, experimental research, and applications relating to all levels of living and non-living systems. Its scope is comprehensive, dealing with systems approaches to: the redesign of organisational and societal structures; the management of administrative and business processes; problems of change management; the implementation of procedures to increase the quality of work and life; the resolution of clashes of norms and values; social cognitive processes; modelling; the introduction of new scientific results, etc. The editors especially want manuscripts of a theoretical or empirical nature which have broad interdisciplinary implications not found in a journal devoted to a single discipline.